


Forgive Me

by inexorablydrawn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (Well technically more of a TA/Student relationship), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon ages, Darkish-Lite just cause of the power dynamics, Enthusiastic Consent, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, and light obsession Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:28:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29967099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inexorablydrawn/pseuds/inexorablydrawn
Summary: His uncle had offered him an opportunity.  An opportunity for stability and focus all while getting to share his love of history with others. It was an opportunity that could have finally turned his life around.So of course the first thing Ben Solo does is screw it all up by falling madly in love with one of his uncle's students.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Forgive Me

He should have known the second he saw her she would be the one who would ruin his life. Of course, it had crossed his mind in some regard, but it had only been a fleeting thought. Something he could ignore. It was all just an over-exaggeration made when his breath was knocked from his lungs when he first saw her sitting in the back of the lecture room. 

But he wasn’t a monster.

He could look the other way.

_He was not a monster._

But she was — _perfect_. Perfect in her off-white sweater that had cut-outs around her shoulders and jean shorts that revealed the perfect amount of sun-kissed skin. Her perfect face was a smattering of freckles and delicate features that were taken straight out of his dreams. 

But it wasn’t until she smiled — laughed at some comment made by the student next to her — that he had that first worrisome thought and he looked away. Because if he didn’t stop then he would never be able to. 

_Shit._

He stared down at the lecture desk in front of him, searching for some sort of interesting pattern in the wood grain to distract him long enough to snap him out of it. 

“Settle down, everyone.” The voice of his uncle echoed throughout the room. Even though the man hadn’t directed the words at him specifically, it sure as hell seemed like it. “I know. The first day of a new term is very exciting.”

The room went quiet as the students settled into their seats, some taking out their laptops to prepare to take notes, while others scavenged their bags for notebooks and pens. 

“For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Professor Luke Skywalker, I am the philosophy head here and I believe a couple of you I’ve had before.” He surveyed the room and nodded to a few different students. “But this is a religious studies course, in which we are going to explore the histories and impacts of different spiritual believes and conquests across the world. I understand this can be a sensitive subject for a lot of people, so if you are someone who will become upset at various critiques at certain religious values, I recommend finding a substitute course.”

No one in the class moved. 

“Though I will clarify, I am a religious man myself. I have a strong connection to my spirituality, but am fully capable of discussing the complicated history surrounding it.”

Ben tried to refocus his gaze on his uncle. 

“I will be your professor the next four months, but I do have an assistant, so the speak, this semester. If you hadn’t noticed him brooding behind my desk.”

Ben tried to mute his growl, but a small laugh from the front row of seats assured him he hadn’t been entirely successful. 

“This is my nephew, Ben Solo. He has a doctorate in archeology and he’s incredibly well versed in religious artifacts and was kind enough to spend the semester with us. I’m looking forward to keeping an eye on him this year. Just like old times.”

Ben raised his hand flippantly as some sort of make-shift attempt at a wave.

“Do you want to be addressed by anything in particular?” Luke added and Ben just shook his head. 

“Call me whatever you’d like.” He grumbled, still refusing to look into the sea of students again.

“You heard him, call him whatever you’d like. The first assignment is to come up with a suitable name for my nephew. He used to do some writing under the name Kylo Ren, and don’t worry, we haven’t let him live it down since so you guys have nowhere to go but up.”

The class laughed again and Ben fell into his palms, wishing for nothing but a quick death. He half expected his uncle to pull out his baby photos next.   
  
“Anyway, I’m only kidding, your actual assignments will be a bit more nuanced.” Luke turned back towards his desk and grabbed a stack of papers atop it. “If you could all take one and pass it on, this will be the syllabus for the next 16 weeks.” 

As the stack of paper made its way around the room, Luke began to read aloud the page’s contents. Then Ben’s gaze began to follow the stack carefully as it made it to the back corner where _she_ was. 

She was the last to receive the handout and there were still several in the pile after she took her own. The girl looked around, seeming to look for anyone who hadn’t received one yet, and unconsciously Ben stood from his desk and appeared up to her side. 

He hadn’t even remembered walking there.

“I’ll take the extras,” he said, reaching down to grab them.

“Oh, thank you,” she whispered in return. He was sure he heard an accent in her voice. She went to hand him the papers and their hands collided for just a minute. “Oy, sorry,” she said, retracting her hand like he had burned it.

He couldn’t breathe again. He looked into her brown, no — _hazel_ , eyes and had forgotten entirely how to breathe. 

It took him a moment to remind himself where he was, to hear his uncle speaking in the background. 

“Don’t—don’t worry about it.” He sputtered when he could manage and his fist closed tightly around the remaining papers in a way he was sure he’d actually ruined them for the next class. 

_He was a monster._

He would never let himself forget that. 

—

“You were _charming_ ,” Luke muttered, his tone dripping with sarcasm, as the noise of the class gathering their things drowned out their conversation. 

“Aren’t I always.” 

While the two of them rarely saw eye to eye, Luke and he were regrettably close. Just not in an overly loving way. It was a closeness caused by the consistent butting of heads given their shared pursed passions with a mix of the obligation to recognize they were — _regrettably_ — related. 

“If you are going to go into teaching, you’ll need at least somewhat likable.”

He ignored that. He just watched as the girl talked to the student next to her as she pulled her messenger bag over her shoulder. Ben counted an appropriate amount of seconds before looking away, hoping Luke hadn’t noticed.

“We have a couple more of these intro classes left, so I advise you to come up with something to say about yourself at the next one.”

He nodded and pretended to survey the class again just to watch her leave. She re-put her hair into a bun, reaching up enough so that the hem of her sweater rose just above the belt loop on her shorts. 

“Look, I’m sticking my neck out for you, kid. I don’t want this to look like some nepotistic pity hire, I think you are quite brilliant. You deserve to be here. But you have to convince them…,” he pointed to the last of the crowd to filter out. Then it was just the two of them. 

He could finally take a full breath.

“Sorry, first day nerves, I guess.” Ben stood from behind the desk and gathered his own things now. “I’m just feeling a bit off.”

“Well, I’ll be here the next six weeks, so hopefully you’ll be a little more settled in by the time you are running these classes on your own for a bit.”

Just then the door to the hall reopened and, like the world wasn’t cruel enough, the girl peeked her head through the crack. 

“Did you forget something?” Luke called out to her and her cheeks turned bright pink. Ben felt his face go hot and pulled on his jacket in hopes to escape. He needed to get out of there.

He didn’t even know her name. 

She just… did something to him. 

“Um, yeah,” she started, coming back into the room fully, “my friend, she’s in this course too, she couldn’t make it in today so I was wondering if I could take an extra syllabus for her?” 

“Of course.” Luke turned around and grabbed one of the heavily creased packets. “Sorry, looks like the extras got a little bent.”

“That’s fine,” she smiled, taking it from him. Her eyes floated over to Ben for just a second before darting back to his uncle. “Also, I’m looking forward to this semester. I’ve read a few of your books, and when I heard you were teaching here, it was actually a big part of the reason I chose this program.”

“What’s your name?” He asked with an almost sad smirk. 

“Rey,” she said quickly, “with an ‘E’, not like the stingray.” It sounded rehearsed. Like she’d had to clarify hundreds of times before.

“Well, nice to meet you, Rey, not like the stingray.” 

“Thank you—” she smiled again and Ben had to put on hand down on the desk to keep his knees from buckling, “I’ll see you both in a few days, I guess,” she finished before spinning on her heel to dash from the room. So quickly that Ben’s eyes couldn’t stop themselves from wandering down her figure. 

“Well, she seems nice,” Luke added nonchalantly, cleaning up his own things.

He had _no idea_.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again! This is going to be another shortish fic, probably around 20k or so, I just wanted to write another one of my favorite tropes while I have downtime and it just works really well for them.
> 
> Also if you have any recommendations for additional tags to be added, I wasn't sure how to properly tag this since this sort of relationship may not be everyone's deal!


End file.
